I found two different schematics, the "Masterwork Witch Staff" and "Superb Staff of the Dragon" both have the same dps range (71/94). Both also have a masterwork slot. What is the difference between them? Is a masterwork schematic guaranteed to give me a masterwork weapon and so is better because I don't have to waste the masterwork slot with one of the "Increased chance of masterwork" items? If so, is it ever worth it crafting a non-masterwork weapon?
13 Answers
Unfortunately the word masterwork is overused in DA:I's enchanting system:
- The schematic can be a masterwork schematic. In this case, the schematic accepts a greater number of materials compared to other schematics of the same tier. Compare the witch staff schematic with the masterwork witch staff schematic: the former has a 16/6/6 arrangement of material slots where as the later has a 18/7/6 arrangement.
- During crafting you can add something to the masterwork slot. Once you get an arcanist to help you, you will be able to add Fade-touched materials while crafting armors and weapons. These will give the created item a unique property like casting a spell on weapon hit or healing a percentage of received damage.
- Finally, it is possible to craft a masterwork item with a critical crafting success. This is done by adding an item like ironbark or great bear claws into the masterwork slot and then passing the RNG check. If the critical crafting is successful, the item generated will have 10% better stats.
Closest comparison I have at the moment: Masterwork grip and Regular grip.
1When you craft a Masterwork weapon, you have an additional, special crafting slot called the "Masterwork slot". In here you can put any "Fade-touched" material, which grants additional bonuses you can only get with Fade-touched materials.
It is worth crafting regular weapons, they can be very powerful and will allow you to finish the game. The Masterwork slot simply allows for utility. (You can find a list of the materials and their effect on the wiki under the page Crafting materials.)
The difference between the schematics you have found is otherwise cosmetic. You can craft the one you think look best, because as long as you craft them with the same materials they will have the same bonuses.
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